Raises OK'd for Fallbrook district administrators

FALLBROOK - Administrators in the Fallbrook Union High School
District and their assistants will receive raises of more than 7
percent under an agreement approved this week by trustees, despite
fierce opposition from teachers who questioned the timing of the
vote.

The boost in salaries and benefits to 22 employees, including
Superintendent Tom Anthony and principals at the district's three
schools, is retroactive to more than a year, and will cost the
district more than $152,000 annually, Assistant Superintendent Jim
Yahr said Tuesday.

Under the agreement, Anthony's salary will be raised by about
$13,000 a year, to just over $177,000.

At a school board meeting Monday, teachers berated trustees for
giving raises to administrators, when the district's teachers are
still working without a contract for the 2005-06 school year.

In front of a packed house, teachers and community members asked
the board to delay the raises for two weeks, when three new board
members will be sworn in. Trustee Ed Puett, whose term on the board
is about to expire, also wanted to delay the vote until Dec. 11,
the first meeting for incoming Trustees Bill O'Connor, Mike Schulte
and Marc Steffler.

But the board majority instead voted 3-1 to approve the raises,
with Puett opposed and Trustee Fran White absent.

For the 2005-06 school year, the district gave administrators a
3 percent raise, but agreed to a retroactive, lump-sum payment of
only 1.5 percent to bring the books current.

For the current school year, the deal includes a 4.4 percent
raise, retroactive to July 1, and a $2,110 annual increase in the
amount the district pays toward each employee's benefits package,
Yahr said.

Critics called Monday's vote a lame-duck action by a board that
has enjoyed a cozy relationship with administrators. Board
President Jim Hutcherson lost his bid for re-election on Nov. 7, as
did White - both replaced by challengers who had campaigned for
change. Puett did not seek another term.

Asked whether the timing of the raises was unusual, Yahr said,
"I don't know if there is a normal time of year (for administrative
raises) - it really depends on when districts complete the
bargaining process."

Tim Hauck, a teacher at Fallbrook High School and lead
negotiator for the teachers association, said that in previous
years, teachers have received raises first, followed by the
classified staff and then administrators.

"The teachers have usually settled first," he said, adding that
the other two groups typically followed because of informal
policies that entitled them to the same salary and benefit
increases as the teachers.

Hauck said that the school board, under Hutcherson's leadership,
has been unresponsive to bargaining efforts, leaving the issue of
teacher contracts for the new board to figure out.

District administrators who will receive raises under the
agreement include the superintendent and several assistant
superintendents, as well as the directors of special education,
students services, technology, finance, food services, and
maintenance and operations.

In addition, the raises cover site administrators, such as
principals and assistant principals, as well as office assistants
referred to as "confidential" employees.

Yahr said none of those employees are represented by a union,
such as the teachers association or the classified union.

"All of the employees represented do not have any bargaining
unit that works for them," he said.